Brassiere frame



May 22, 1956 M. SCHWARTZ 2,746,052

BRASSIERE FRAME Filed April 4, 1955 FIG.2

INVENTOR MARCUS SCHWARTZ ATTORNEY United States Paen 2,746,052 BRASSR FRAME Marcus Sehwartz, Flushing, N. Y., assignor t S. & S. Industries, Inc., New York, N. Y., a corporation Application April 4, 1955, Serial No. 493,936 1 Clam. (Ci. 2-42) This invention relates to Wire trames for brassieres and is a continuation-in-part of my application, Serial No. 463,386, filed October 20, 1954, now Patent No. 2,705,800.

Broadly, it is an object of the invention to provide an arcuate Wire of substantially rectangular cross-section for use in a brassiere beneath the breast pockets for supporting the breasts.

With the advent of the strapless brassiere a means et support was necessary, since the brassiere was no longer supported by shoulder straps. The only successful mathod of supporting the brassiere was the use of arcuate wires. Presently, the brassiere is supported by the use of two arcuate wires of round cross-section beneath the breast pockets and supporting each breast, much on a suspension bridge principle, whereby a bridge is supported at both ends and properly engineered so that even though the span may be great and the weight which is carried is very heavy, the center can sufliciently support any given load. These arcuate wires, to fonction properly, must be of sufficient round cross-section as to withstand the pull et the weight of the individual bust. As can be readily seen, the weight of the bust of a large Woman would necessitate the use of a wire with a heavier round cross-section than the Weight of a bust of a woman which is small by size and weight. However, since the manufacturing of brassieres and of the arcuate wires of the round cross-section is a mass production item, it does not lend itself to the individual fitting of a diterent thick ness of a round cross-section for each particular weight by bust size. 'hererore, one thickness of round crosssection arcuate wire has been developed, which does an adequate job for all sizes. Since this arcuate wire of round cross-section must be of sufiicient rigidity t0 produce the required support in the vertical direction, it is also comparatively rigid in the transverse direction because in a Wire With a round cross-section, the rigidity of the wire is the same in any direction. Heretofore, arcuate wires of round cross-section have been used in rassi res, but such wires have proven unsatisfactory, since an excess amount of pressure was exerted against the body in a transverse direction, that is, at right angles to the radii or the wire curvature. Wires for use in brassieres, to fonction properly, and withstand undue pressure against the body of the wearer, must be of sufficient rigidity to produce the required support in the vertical direction, have a certain degree of flexibility in the vertical direction and have a greater fiexibility and resiliency in the transverse direction, that is, to the plane of the curved wire. if a curved Wire cf round cross-section is sufiiciently resilient in the lateral direction, its use in rassieres is not sufficiently rigid in the vertical direction to properiy support the bust when worn.

Being very conscious of the undue pressure against the womans oody, which is caused by the rigidity of the wire, I have been trying for many, many months to find a solution. 1 have conducted many eXperiments With the padding of brassieres with foam rubber, where the pressure et the wire is located. After a great many experiments, finally arrived at the answer. A wire must be developed which would have sufiicient rigidity in the 1011- gitudinal plane to take care of every size and yet have good fiexibility in the transverse direction, so as to have little or no pressure against the body. By taking a special type of hypereutectoid steel Wire of between .80 and 2,746,052 Patented May 22, 1956 1.05 carbon content and treating it as hereinafter described, such Wire has the proper rigidity and fiexibility in the vertical direction and the desired degree of fiexibility in the lateral direction, that is, the degree of flexibility in the lateral direction is greater than in the vertical direction. When this wire is used as a brassiere support beneath the breast, it will perform its required and proper function without undue pressure against the body of the wearer.

For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the invention, reference is had to the following detailed description in connection With the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of one of a pair of brassiere wires comprising the framework of a brassiere; and

Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional View taken along lino 22 of Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawings, numeral 10 represents one of a pair or wires comprising a supporting trame for a brassiere. A special type of round cross-section hypereutectoid steel is selected for the manufacture of a substantially rectangular cross-sectional member for a brassiere trame and such steel member undergoes certain operations during its processing to change the inherent grain structure in order to produce the desired degree of fiexibility and resilience, such hypereutectoid steel has the following chemical composition:

Chemical Composition Carbon 0.801.05 Manganese 0.250.50 Phosphorus --maximum 0.040 Sulphur do 0.055

The steel is made in the following manner. After the ingot has been reduced t0 Wire form in the hot rolling mills, it goes through the cold drawing process where the wire is brought to the required gauge and finish.

Intermittent annealing, where required, is interposed during the drawing in order to condition the Wire for further reduction. Annealing urnaces are electrically heated. in order to prevent oxidation and decarburization, the annealing is done in controlled atmospheres.

Cold drawing improves the steel in regard to surface finish, straightness, accuracy of gauge, etc. Furthermore, cold draWing can be regulated to obtain the exact degree of hardness required for the intended purpose,

Many produets, however, require greater hardness or a higher tensile strength than can be attained solely by cold drawing. To suit the steel for such applications, it is suosequently hardened and tempered.

Special equipment and skill employed in the cold drawing operation are capable of extreme precision in gauge.

This heat treatment of such steel is as follows: Spring steel is hardened by heating to a temperature above the critical range, 1400 F. to 1500 F. and quickly cooling to a comparatively low temperature between and 200 F. This results in a very hard, brittle material, unsuitable for spring pnrposes. The tempering operation which follows immediately causes a reduction in hardness and an increase in toughness. Tempering is carried out in the range of 650 to 1000 F. It is in this tempering that the combination of ductility and hardness required is obtained.

The hardening, quenching and tempering at the spring steel plant is a continuous operation. The steel is uncoiled from a reel, passed through a bath which brings it to the exact temperature required for hardening, passed quickly to a cool bath which quenches it, than through a third bath at the proper drawing temperature, thence to a take-up reel. The average furnace is about 70 feet long. Various baths are used according to the size equiaxed polyhedral grains.

This special wire, after further reduction of diarneter, has an overlapping of the elongated grains which adds considerably to the strength of the wire material. The wire has a high tensile strength and high hardness due to the reduction of area caused by the wire drawing operations and is now in condition for further processing.

Further drawing operations of this wire causes a lengthening of the grain and a large amount of residual stress which is then relieved by a special operation consisting of a thermal treatment suflicient to refine the grain structure of the wire member and also prepare the wire member for additional drawings, which cause a more uniform sorbitic structure With a fine dispersion of ferrite.

The round wire is now ready for a special sequence of operations to malte it a substantially rectangular crosssectional shape With round edges, as shown in Fig. 2, which is the desired shape for use in brassieres. We either fiatten the round wire into cross-sections of rectangular shape With round edges, or into other shapes, by passing it through a rolling mill, fiattening it in a power press or in a drop hammer. This can be done in two ways, that is, either in a continuous coil or eut into individual pieces of predetermined length. I have also produced a wire frame for brassieres and began with a fiat wire of the desired thickness from a continuous coil. This fiat wire was then cut to the desired length, and then curved to the desired curve of arc, as shown in Fig. 1, and as figured by the modulus of elasticity of material.

The other method of fabn'cating this wire is to have the round wire out to the desired length and then formed into an arcuate shape, as shown in Fig. 1, by bending the wire beyond its elastic limit, by previously determining the modulus of elasticity of the wire, which permits a certain amount of springback to occur. During this curving the grains actually slide over one another an infinitesimal amount without destroying the bond of the amorphous cernent holding them together. This overstraining of the wire causes the grains to be compressed on the inside of the curve and elongated on the outside, thereby inducing additional residual stresses in the wire and causing it to be in an unstahle condition. It now requires careful handling to prevent changing the desired shape until a stress equalizing heat treatment is provided. The wire is then baked for about one-half heur at temperatures between 300 F. and 500 F. to stress relieve it. A certain amount of spn'ngoack which occurs during stress relieving is allowed for during the manufacture. The sharp edges of the ends of the wire are taken care oi by either the forming of spherical terminals, or the placing of a rounded part upon each end.

The round wire is then fiattened into a rectangular shaped cross-section With rounded edges, as shown in Fig. 2, or into other shapes either by passing it through a. rolling mill, flattening it in a power press, or drop hammer, forcing the grains to become more closely packed thereby reducing some of the bending stresses by reorienfing the structure. This, however, sets up additional stresses due to the cold work of pressing. This cold working realigns the grains into the desirable condition for additional strength and higher hardness thereby permitting greater resilience. This is also due in part to the change in shape of the section in the transversc plane and this combination of efiects imparts the desired mechanical properties. The unstahle condition caused by residual stresses within the structure from cold working are then relieved by a low temperature thermal treatment, as hereinbefore stated.

The special sequence of operatonsneeded to produce the correct type of wire for the purpose described, combined with the unique forming operations and thermal treatments, permit manufacture of a product With a combination of fiexibility and resilience heretofore unavailable and novel for use in brassiere framework.

T he wire is treated so as to be completely mst-resistant. It may be electro-plated, metallic coated, or receive a baked enamel finish to provide a smooth finish coating.

Load and deflection tests were made to determine the flexibility and resilience of round sections of wire versus rectangular shaped wire, and such tests were conducted on a precision testing instrument which is described as follows:

The testing instrument consists of a standard type of scale with a large dial having numerals on its face in pounds and ounces which register the amount of load or pulling force applied. Below the scale and directly connected to it is a movable platform and connected thereto is a steel ruler showing the defiections in inches and fractions. The part to be tested is held on the movable platform and the other end of the part to be tested is held by the hook attached to the pointer of the scale. Rotation of a handle causes the movable platf0rm to deflect any desired amount, and this amount is shown on the steel ruler at the same time the load appears on the scale. An instrument of this character is shown and described in U. S. Patent No. 2,670,628.

In making the longitudinal test, a brassiere wire frame et standard type round cross-section was placed on the hooks of a spring testing instrument and extended .625 in which condition it exerted a load of 28 ounces. A rectangular section was then placed on the same hooks (after removing the round section trame) and also extended .625 in which condition it exerted a load of 28 ounces. The loads exerted are exactly the same. The load placed upon the round wire was exerted along the axis of the arc and it tended t0 further open the arc to the point of extension amounting to .625". This is the amount of extension required to fit the wire around the breast of the wearer.

Inasmuch as the stress caused by the extension was less than the elastic limit for both sections, the trames returned to their normal free position. With this amount or defiection in both instances there was no distortion or twisting o either wire.

With the spreading of the brassiere wire to accommodate fitting around the breast of the wearer, it is obvious that the pressure exerted by the wire when released or collapsed Will be equal to the pressure required to open the wire. The rectangular cross-sectional wire Will therefore have the same resistance of stretch and Will ofier the same support as the round wire. The wires Will be obvi ously Worn in an untensioned condition on the body.

In making the transverse test, a fixture was used to hold a curved brassiere frame in a horizontal position and the outer end was then attached to the hook of the testing instrument and deflected. The transverse load was exerted in the plane of the axis, but at right angles to the plane of the wire and was exerted at the free end. The loads are shown in the following table.

Deection Round Wire, Flat Wire,

oz. oz.

(The round wire took a slight permanent set; at 1% deflection indicat- 1ng the safe maximum deflectmn had been reached.)

The conclusion shown revealed that while both sections have the same longitudinal loads, a tremendous difference occurs in the transverse tests as shown in the above table.

The fiat wire did not take a set aven at 2" of defiection and could have been deflected more if desired.

It was found that 2 of lateral deflections was the maximum required to cause the rectangular cross-sectional wire to fit a wide range of figures.

The round and rectangular section ratio is 28 divided by 1.9 and equals 14.75 at deflection in both planes.

The ratio of the two wire sections is 64 divided by 4.8 and equals 13.3, for a transverse defiection et 1 /2. For other conditions it varies between 12.5 to 14.2.

Comparative flexibility ratios, in the transverse plane of fiat cross-section material, versus round cross-section material, obtained from actual tests on certified testing equipment, using fiat sides that give about the same longitudinal flexibility as does the round section, run from 12.5 to 14.2 for nominal transverse deflection from /2 inch to 1 /2 inch. By varying the dimensions of the rectangular section, it is possible to vary these ratios from 4 to 20 and obtain characteristics desirable for specific cases where either lesser or greater amounts of flexibility are desired.

The conclusion With respect to the ratio of loads in the transverse plane shows the round wire to be quite stii laterally. T he round wire exerts about 13 times as much load against the body as does the fiat wire. The fiat wire, because of its greater flexibility (or less rigidity) requires only 7 /2% of the load to deflect it laterally, than does the round wire.

With respect to the flexibility of the round wire in comparison to the rectangular wire of my structure, the ability to be deflected in the longitudinal direction, parallel to the direction of the wire, for both round and rectangular sections is the same. This desired result is accomplished by correctly determining the size of the rectangular shape With respect to the round shape in such manner that the section modulus about the neutral bending axis is the same for both sections.

The increased ability for the rectangular section to be flexible in the transverse plane at a direction at right angles to the longitudinal direction is accomplished by the unique shaping of the rectangular wire so that the section modulus about the neutral bending axis in this plane is of a different value than it is about the other axis. The section modulus of the round section, however, is the same in both planes, therefore the flexibility in the transverse plane is not improved.

With respect to the resilience of the round wire in comparison to my rectangular wire structure, the ability to spriug back to the original free position after deflection is the same for both round and rectangular sections when the deflection is in the longitudinal plane, a condition that can be easily made to exist by the proper temper or hardness placed in each material.

In the transverse plane of bending, however, a large diierence in resilience exists between the round and rectangular sections. The rectangular section can be deflected much further than the round section and return to the normal free position Without permanent set. This curs because the change in shape changes the section modulus thereby lessening the fibre stress during defiec tien and permitting more resilience in this crans-bending direction. This desired condition cannot be obtained With a round section because the section modulus is the same in both planes.

The amount of temper is related to the hardness and tensile strength. T he desired temper of the flattened section, to bring the elastic limit to the correct value for proper fiexibility and resilience is accomplished by a correct determination of hardness in the wire before forming it into an arcuate shape, which is determined by the amount of cold work done in the flattening process and by a low temperature thermal treatment. The control of these operations can bring about the desired properties and temper. The proper amount or temper needed has been determined by actual test and is regulated by quality control methods verified by Rockwell Hardness Tests to maintain the proper condition. By actual tests on sample parts and from records made, the hardness that provides the proper mechanical properties of tensile strength, temper, resilience and fiexibilitv is Rockwell C42C49.

When a pair of such Wires are used or positioned into a slotted section of a brassiere, dress or undergarment, such as a brassiere slip, it is found to have just the proper amount of lateral and vertical flexibility and vertical and lateral rigidity. Such wires provide the correct vertical support for the breasts and the proper resiliency and fiexibility laterally so that there are no undue pressures against the body of the wearer and the brassiere can be worn comfortably the entire day and evening.

It is possible to form the thickness of the wire, either before or after it is curved. It is also desirable that the opposed longitudinal edges of the wire remain slightly curved for greater comfort to the wearer.

While I have described the cross-section of my wire as substantially rectangular, it is Within the scope and spirit of the invention to have other cross-sections, such as oval, in the form of the figure 8, double concave, or other similar cross-sections, so long as the arcuate wire is substantially rigid in its longitudinal plane and has greater flexibility laterally than in its longitudinal plane.

I daim:

A substantially rigid arcuate steel wire brassiere frame of substantially rectangular cross-section having its longer dimension extending radially of the curve, and having a greater degree of lateral flexibility than longitudinal extensibility, said lateral flexibility being a minimum of four times the longitudinal flexibility and a maximum 0f twenty times the longitudinal flexibility of a round wire under the same load and having the same longitudinal extensiblity as a round wire of the same cross-sectional area, permitting lateral deflection of the wire from the unstressed plane of the wire to fit the contours of the body of the wearer Without causing a tortional twisting of the wire along the curve of the arc.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 145,285 Dudley Dec. 9, 1875 2,388,535 Gluckin Nov. 6, 1945 2,506,639 Gordon May 9, 1950 2,527,521 Bloom Oct, 31, 1950 2,705,800 Schwartz Apr. 12, 1955 

